Pakistan Views

Authorities on Tuesday launched operation for expulsion of Afghan refugees from famous Jalozai Camp and demolished 360 empty shops of refugees. “Initially we had demolished the shops situated on main Pabbi-Chirat Road to pave way for the repatriation of refugees stationed in the camp,” Maqbool Shah Roghani, an official of Commissionerate for Afghan Refugees told Business Recorder.The camp was established in 1980 and was second largest refugees’ facility after Kacha Garhi Refugee Camp, which had already been demolished after repatriation of inmates of the camp. It has provided shelter to a number of known Afghan commanders during resistance against Soviet intervention. The camp was housing about 12,100 refugees and after the repatriation the number has now declined to only about 10,000.The repatriation has started following tripartite agreement signed in Geneva with Afghanistan and United High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) for completion of repatriation process by the end of 2009, the official said. The deadline for demolition of Jalozai Camp was agreed on by both parties, but the refugees were reluctant to leave.”Before launching the operation, an ultimatum was given to the inmates,” Roghani added. The demolition would be carried out in three phases. The first phase has been completed, which would be followed by demolition of shops inside the camp and then demolition of the mud house of the inmates. The official was confident of the completion of the demolition operation within 25 days.About the repatriation process, the official said that it was picking up pace as 200 families were being repatriated on a daily basis, but the eruption of fighting in Landi Kotal, Khyber Agency is telling upon the repatriation process.